Sarasota County fire training academy receives funding approval

With last week’s approval of two funding sources for the Sarasota County’s new Regional Fire Training Academy, staff has turned its attention to finding money to pay for three items not included in the first phase.

Without discussion, county commissioners unanimously approved two of the funding sources during their April 23 meeting — the issuance of $29 million in capital improvement revenue bonds and the appropriation of $13.6 million from the fiscal year 2024 capital improvement budget. The total Phase 1 budget is $53.7 million with funding provided by fire and EMS impact fees and state grants.

Sarasota County Schools is partnering with a $10 million contribution, which will provide access to the new training academy for Suncoast Technical College’s firefighter training program. The college and the Sarasota County Fire Department currently train at STC’s facilities on city-owned property off Circus Boulevard.

The new academy will be built on county-owned land near the county landfill on Knights Trail Road, east of I-75 near Nokomis.

Courtesy image

During their March 20 budget workshop, commissioners said they’d like to build the entire complex at once, but that means finding another $20.2 million. Emergency Services Director Rich Collins said he’d be satisfied if a few more items totaling about $6.4 million could be funded in the initial build.

At $3.3 million, the most expensive of those items is an equipment driver’s training pad. Currently, that training takes place in the Robarts Arena parking lot. Other items include a confined space training area and a high-angle rescue tower. 

“If we could get back into the project somehow that would allow us to move forward with a comprehensive ability to train not just our firefighters but regionally hazardous material, high-angle rescue, drivers’ training, truck operations and so on,” Collins said.

Commissioners unanimously agreed, and instructed staff to scour the budget for the money. Should the additional three items be included in Phase 1, remaining to be funded are an outdoor classroom, restroom and storage building; storage/decontamination building; hazmat/vehicle extraction; partially collapsed building and rubble pile; strip shopping mall prop; gas-fired prop; shipboard prop; fire behavior lab; and the balance of furniture, fixtures and equipment.

In addition to SCFD and STC training, the facility is intended to draw agencies from throughout the region to a location central to the county. That’s a departure from the current condition in which county firefighters and emergency personnel must train either at the STC academy on the northern edge of the county or at municipally owned facilities in North Port or Englewood.